Things Unseen
by Black Seraphim
Summary: A Dustin slash story. People are not always what they seem. (Chapter 2 reposted and added.)
1. Chapter One

Standard disclaimer; because, if I did own them, kicking evil space alien asses wouldn't be the first thing on their minds...  
  
Return of Hunter  
  
Tori walked into Storm Chargers looking distressed. She was supposed to meet Dustin an hour ago, but, as usual, he was late and she was wondering what was so important that he had to miss lunch with her only to call, using her morpher, no less, and tell her to meet him at Kelly's so they could talk.  
  
She made her way through the few people who were in the (ha) extreme action store to sit on the counter, mostly out of the way.  
  
"Are you sure you want to sit there?" a voice asked behind her. "Last time anyone got that close to her cash register, Kelly started hovering around them like they were a thief."  
  
"It's fine, Blake," she answered, with a slight grin, as well as a small blush. "Kelly thinks that I—and Shane, I guess—actually live and work here. She's cool like that."  
  
"If you say so. By the way, not to be rude, but, why are you here?" the Navy Ranger asked, looking at his watch. "It's just a little after two. I thought you'd be hitting the waves about now."  
  
Tori frowned. "Yeah, I would be, too, if Dustin just met me for lunch at the Starbucks on the fourth floor of the mall. He said he'd be there, and at first I just thought that he was late as usual, but an hour passed and he never showed up. Then he—"she leaned closer to whisper into his ear. "Then he used my morpher to tell me that he had to tell me something, and that it was urgent. He told me to meet him here, and that he had something he had to do, but he'd meet me here really quickly, and that was, like, twenty minutes ago."  
  
"Urgent, huh?" Blake mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you have any idea what it could be? Like, you know," he pointed at his own morpher. "Like, work-related."  
  
Tori sat for a second to ponder that thought, her face scrunching up as she did so. "No. I mean, I don't think so. If it was—heh—'work-related' he would have just told me..." Her eyebrows furrowed, too as she thought about what she said. "I mean, if something was wrong, wouldn't Cam or CyberCam tell us? Why would he send Dustin?"  
  
Blake frowned as he thought this over. "I don't know. But, speaking of 'work-related,' if I don't do mine, I'll run the risk of Kelly being mondo unhappy," Blake paused a while, wincing "Which I really can't afford seeing as how, you know, Hunter and I kind of need jobs to pay for rent." A beat. "Well, that and the fact that we kind of blew her off a lot in the past."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Tori said sighing. "I just wish that you could stay and keep me company." Tori's eyes shot open in shock. "I mean...I...uh...I...um..." she stammered. "So, uh, how's Hunter?"  
  
Blake grinned at Tori's pathetic attempt at a cover up. "He's, uh, he's fine," he answered truthfully...well...half truthfully. Lately, Hunter seemed to be more short-tempered, more agitated, and brooding. Blake knew that Hunter didn't want to particularly stay in Blue Bay Harbor, but that couldn't have been the only problem. Whatever it was, it must have been big, because, Hunter didn't even let him know that something was wrong. Blake knew that something was up, and that he should find out what, but...Tori was here...now...waiting...ready to be teased. Blake smiled.  
  
"What was that about—"he tried before he was cut off by Tori's almost yelp.  
  
"Nothing!" she squealed, nearly falling off the counter. "I was just...uh...I was just..." she stammered, eyes darting, before a thought crossed her mind, and she smiled. "I was just wonder why...why you...why you...don't move into Ninja Ops?!"  
  
Blake eyes widened in shock and the clanking in the back room came to a sudden stop. "Maybe you shouldn't say that so loud?" he whispered softly, eyes scanning the room, looking for people who seemed suspicious.  
  
"Yeah, I know...sorry," Tori replied, biting her curved index finger.  
  
Blake wanted to say more, but thought better otherwise. "Anyway, I thought about that, but, Hunter and I figured that it would be kind of creepy living with Cam," he paused to shake his head ruefully, grimacing. "You know, especially since, the last time we were in town, we kind of kidnapped his guinea pig father."  
  
Tori quickly thought over that and began to say something when she was cut off by a sudden voice call her name.  
  
"Tori!" it yelled. She quickly turned to Blake and smiled sweetly before he said goodbye. She turned back at her friend.  
  
"Dustin! Where have you been?! You didn't show up for lunch and you called like half an hour ago!" she hissed, obviously annoyed by his non- punctuality. "Where were you?"  
  
Dustin could only shake his head in an answer, deeply gasping, obviously coming from a long run. "I...got here...as soon...as I could..." he managed.  
  
"Well? What's wrong?" Tori asked, more out of concern, now more than anger. "Did something happen?"  
  
Dustin nodded his head vigorously, catching the last of his breath. "He found out, Tor," he gasped, holding her shoulders for support. "We were walking over to the skating grounds, just talking about...anything, and out of nowhere, he, like, brings up the whole...subject...thingie...and then I was, like, 'oh, my God, what am I going to do?" and stuff, and—"  
  
"Whoa, wait, Dustin. Hold on. Who found out what?" she asked in agitation.  
  
Dustin leaned forward giving eyes almost bugging out of his head. "You know, he found out about..." Dustin took a look around for anyone listening and leaned even more, "...you know, me...and us...and stuff."  
  
"And stuff? Is that supposed to make sense? Because, I mean—" Tori stopped when she looked at Dustin's face. The yellow ranger was a lot of things, but serious was rarely one of them. Sudden realization dawned on Tori and she could feel her heart break for her oldest friend. Stepping forward to hug him, she said, "Oh, Dustin...I'm so sorry. I should have known this was serious...you wouldn't pass up a triple strawberry-mocha extra large milkshake for anything," she said, holding him as he squirmed.  
  
"No! No, you've got it all wrong!" Dustin insisted, prying out of Tori's embrace. His face wasn't so tired anymore. It seemed to brighten up all of a sudden. His smile was wider than she'd ever seen it, and his eyes danced as if they held some sort of secret only he knew. Those eyes darted around the store again and then rested on Tori's, brimming with excitement. Dustin looked like he could barely contain himself, jumpy, and twitching, but in the good way.  
  
"You see, like, he found out and was, like, totally cool about it, and, like—" Dustin said before Tori cut him off, his hands going behind his head, coming back down in an almost "yes!" motion. He was excited alright. Tori just raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How'd he find out?" she asked.  
  
Dustin's eyes furrowed and, for a second, she was back to the serious version of her Ninja friend before he shook his head and became his usual self again. "Huh? Um, I didn't ask, but that doesn't matter because..." eyes darted around again and more leaning took place, "...he asked me out!"  
  
This time it was Tori's eyes that bugged out of her head. She backed away to look at Dustin, beaming and jumpy and absolutely adorable, her expression melted from confusion to understanding in a heartbeat and she almost squealed, becoming as excited as he was. Almost, because, Tori, as a rule, never squealed.  
  
"Oh, my gosh! Um, that's great! I'm so happy for you," she said, hugging Dustin again, who fully reciprocated, except, this time, it was about excitement and happiness and not comfort.  
  
"Yeah, I know. Me, too!" Dustin yelped. "I mean...well, you know."  
  
Tori could barely keep the excitement in any longer when she asked a question. "Well? When is it? The date?"  
  
Dustin smiled his room-brightening smile. "Tonight! It's tonight. He's coming by my house later. He didn't tell me what we were going to do so..."  
  
Tori just kept smiling. "So, how's it feel to get on the horse again?" as soon as the words had left her mouth, she mentally banged her head into a wall and sighed as Dustin's figure sagged and his eyes lost some of the shine they usually had. Sometimes, Dustin wasn't the only one to have a blonde moment...even though, technically, he was a brunette.  
  
Great question, Tor.  
  
Dustin paused for a while and his eyes darted around before settling at his feet. "Um...I don't know. I'm nervous, I guess. I didn't really...I guess it was...it was just that with Marcus..." he paused again. His eyes lost all their usual brightness now, but somehow, Tori noticed, Dustin's eyes never stopped to showing some sort of light. When they were sad, they just started to glow instead, and still you could feel the warmth in them. "With Marcus...I—"  
  
"It's okay," Tori said, feeling a guilty for making Dustin think about this now. He deserved to be happy after everything he went through. "You don't have to answer that. I'm sorry that I—"  
  
"No, it's okay!" Dustin insisted, some light returning to his eyes. "It's just...I never really thought about being in a...relationship..." Tori noticed how he struggled with the word, "again, after..."  
  
"Oh, Dustin..." she said, wanting to hug him but knew that he needed his space right now, and just settled for rubbing his right arm. A minute or two passed when she thought she'd speak again. "Well, at least, now, you have—"  
  
She was cut off when the door to Storm Chargers suddenly opened, and Shane walked in like he was on top of the world. He easily potted Dustin and Tori and quickly ambled over.  
  
"Hey guys! What's up?" he asked.  
  
Tori just smiled. "Nothing! Um, Dustin was just telling me some good news."  
  
Shane looked over at Dustin and noticed how his feet were shuffling and that his eyes seemed glued to an invisible spot on the floor. Then he saw Dustin's eyes shift towards him and then dart back to the floor as some color crept up his almost alabaster skin.  
  
"You're blushing," stated Shane, causing Dustin to only blush even more. Tori smiled. He leaned closer so that only Dustin, and probably Tori, could hear. "You're cute when you blush."  
  
That seemed to snap Dustin out of the state he was in and he not-so softly socked Shane on the shoulder, although he was still pink. He just didn't know if it was because he was slightly mad for being called cute or if he was just embarrassed.  
  
Shane just rubbed his arm and smiled. "So. I'm guessing Dustin told you the good news."  
  
Tori smiled, too, which just caused Dustin to turn another shade. She nodded. "Yeah. So, uh, where you taking him?" she asked, slipping into a mock parental tone. "I want to know that my baby is being taken care of. I also want him in on time by curfew."  
  
Shane nodded and decided to play along. "Well, the evening's going to be a surprise, but I promise you, I'll take good care of him," replied Shane. Dustin rolled his eyes and softly laughed. "As for curfew...how does ten sound?" Tori shook her head in disapproval. "How does twelve sound?" Tori just gave him a murderous look. "Eleven?" Tori smile.  
  
Dustin, who almost red at this point, groaned and socked Shane in the shoulder again.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm. "And, why didn't you hit Tori?"  
  
"Dude, one, she's a girl," Dustin casually stated. "And two, she hits back and hits me harder than you do."  
  
Tori winced when she heard that. She looked at Dustin and saw that he could really just joke like that without it turning something in him. She looked at Shane, his face contorted in thought, and was once again glad that he had never known about...certain people.  
  
"Huh, that's true," said Shane. All three just looked at each other and started laughing. Pretty soon, all three of them were talking about stories and reminiscing about things, not too long ago when a voice interrupted them.  
  
"Oh, oh, oh, remember the time when Tori—" Dustin started before he was cut off by a voice behind him, and all three turned to see who it was.  
  
"Yo, Dustin!" Hunter yelled. "I need you to go and the back and finish fixing the Johansen bike. It needs to be picked up in about an hour." Dustin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I thought I finished that yesterday."  
  
Hunter scoffed. "So did I. I went back and decided to do some fine- tuning." Hunter dropped the rag he used to wipe off grease on the counter and started making his way over to the door. "Don't worry, all the hard stuff is done. Besides, Kelly stepped out to the bank, Blake needs to get the store ready for the sale, and I still need to pick up lunch for Blake and me."  
  
"But...it's kind of my day off," Dustin protested slightly.  
  
"Yeah, well, we need you here. I need to help out Blake when we get back, so, just fix the bike," Hunter yelled as he walked out the store, startling a few customers who just walked in.  
  
"Dude, what was that all about?" asked Shane behind him.  
  
"I don't know," Dustin said, shaking his head and shuffling his feet. "I guess I got work to do. I'll see you later, guys," he said, hugging Tori, and grasping hands with Shane, before turning around to go to the back room.  
  
"You know, ever since that friend Dustin had a while back—Marcus was it?," paused Shane, and Tori nodded, "—well, after him, I didn't think that Dustin would be so trusting about people like...well...Hunter...or Marcus."  
  
"You have no idea," Tori mumbled before she could stop herself. Her eyes opened wide in shock.  
  
"What was that?" the red ranger asked.  
  
"Nothing. It was nothing," said Tori a little too quickly. "I still have to stop by Ninja Ops and see Cam. He said that Sensei wanted to talk to me about something."  
  
"Oh, okay," Shane replied. "Um, do you know what about?"  
  
Tori froze. She wasn't expecting to have to answer a question when she started lying. "Um, no. I have no idea. I'll see you later though?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. See you later," said Shane.  
  
"Okay, bye," said Tori as she walked out of the store and towards Ninja Ops—she figured she should bring at least Cam in as an alibi—leaving Shane awkwardly in the middle of the room, before he decided to go to the skate park.  
  
What they didn't know was that a certain person in crimson, now standing at the window outside window, had been watching ever since Tori walked in. 


	2. Chapter Two

Standard disclaimer, because, if I owned them, Dustin with one of the other rangers would be canon, not fanon.  
  
Red Competition  
  
"Are they at it again?" Tori asked Dustin and Blake when she walked into Ninja Ops. "Don't they ever get tired?"  
  
Blake winced as Shane met the ground hard after Hunter flipped him. "You guys don't know Hunter. He won't stop at anything unless he knows he the best. Tiring out isn't even an option."  
  
"In that case...when do you think they'll stop? You know, who do you think will win?" Tori asked.  
  
"Dude, I don't think they'll ever stop," Dustin replied in awe. He grimaced when Shane sent Hunter flying with a roundhouse kick to the chest, then shifted his head slightly in Blake's direction, eyes never leaving the spectacle. "You don't know Shane, then, either, dude," Dustin sighed. "He's, like, just so stubborn. He won't give up unless—" the three rangers momentarily looked away and winced when both the Red and Crimson rangers were sent to the floor after punching each other on the face, "—he knows he's...the...best..." Dustin trailed off, as both rangers started to circle each other.  
  
"I'm starting to think that this could get ugly," murmured Tori, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Then she looked around and noticed that no one else was with them, that it was just the five rangers. "Um...hey, you guys, where's Sensei or Cam? Some one needs to be here to pull them apart."  
  
She waited for Blake and Dustin to turn around and answer her, but when Blake only answered that he didn't know, Tori grew impatient. "Dustin!"  
  
Dustin jumped and turned shifted his head slightly towards Tori, a sign that he was listening. "What? Huh? Oh, right. Sorry, but it's, like, watching a train wreck. You just...can't...stop...watching."  
  
"Dustin!" Tori exclaimed.  
  
"What? Oh, yeah...uh...yeah, Cam said he, like, had to go out and get something and that Sensei was out meditating," Dustin answered, never taking his eyes off the brutality.  
  
"Huh...let me get this straight," Tori said with a slight smirk on her face. "Cam left not only Hunter and Shane, but _you_," she poked his back, "_alone_ with the supercomputer? Excuse me if I don't believe you."  
  
This was enough to shock Dustin out of his awe. "Hey! I'm not _that_ bad," he answered. Tori could have sworn he was pouting. "And, no, Shane and I came here together. Blake and Captain Tall, Dark and Brooding came by a little later."  
  
If it was possible, the smirk on Tori's face got even bigger. "So you...uh...came here with Shane...together?"  
  
Blake's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Um...yeah...isn't that what he just said?" he asked, gesturing to Dustin who looked a little flushed, and was shooting her dirty looks and icy glares.  
  
"Dude, you okay?" asked Blake. "You look a little red...and hot."  
  
Tori laughed quietly when Dustin immediately turned three shades of red, and Blake's eyebrows just furrowed more. She nearly bawled out loud when she noticed that Shane had heard—and registered—the comment, too, and paused to look at Blake then Dustin—and, for some reason, Hunter did too—before deciding he was okay before continuing with his sparring.  
  
"Yeah...uh...I just need some..." Dustin trailed off, busily looking for... "Water!" he exclaimed and started to eagerly drink, nearly chugging the water.  
  
Tori's smile turned evil and pretended to address Blake when she kept looking at the Yellow ranger. "Well, yeah, I know, it's just that...uh..." she paused to giggle, "...Shane and Dustin have been...ahem...disappearing on me for a while."  
  
Tori smile when Dustin almost choked with the water.  
  
"Tori, can I see you outside for, like, a while?" he asked, death glares already boring holes into Tori's oblivious gaze as he began to stand up. Tori had to bite her lip to stop from laughing...again.  
  
"Yeah, sure!" she said, a little too brightly, then turning to Blake. "Uh, we'll be right back."  
  
She then took Dustin's hand, as he helped her to stand up. Blake's eyebrows scrunched up even more, but he decided that watching his brother and Shane beating the crap out of each other was more fun to watch then wondering what Tori's double meaning was.  
  
Outside, Dustin was still fuming as Tori finally let out all the laughter that she'd been bottling up since she first started teasing him. When she finally stopped, she noticed that Dustin was not happy, and that threatened to send her into yet another laughing fit.  
  
"Yeah, dude, that was, like, so...cruel," Dustin said, his hands strangling the air to emphasize his point.  
  
"Oh, just lighten up, Dustin. I was just playing," Tori said, amusement still in her voice. "It's not like Blake suspects anything anyway."  
  
Dustin visibly deflated in front of Tori and she was reminded of just how knew this all was to him, how much like a little kid seeing school for the first time or like a puppy who felt bad because it didn't know what it was supposed to do. "Yeah, I know, it's just that...I don't want to risk anyone else finding out, especially not Blake and Hunter," he said despondently, eyes glazing over, looking past her and at the tree-fenced field behind her. "I just...I just I don't want to risk splitting up the team, now, especially since, you know, they just barely, finally joined."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Tori said, feeling bad because she didn't take into consideration what might have happened had Dustin not stopped her. She rubbed his arm up and down. "I'm sorry. I'll be careful. I just...I just couldn't help myself," Tori said amusement creeping back into her voice, which was obviously the right thing to say because Dustin smiled and did an affectionate eye roll.  
  
"Oh, yeah, hey," she said finally remember what it was that she came to Ninja Ops for. "You never did tell me how you're date was." Dustin groaned, but Tori just ignored it. "It's been four days and I'm still waiting to hear it."  
  
Dustin chuckled a little. "And with good reason," he said, as he pointed to the entrance of Ninja Ops.  
  
Tori smiled and gave him a slight shove as his laughing began to die down. "Well? Out with it, then!"  
  
"Okay, okay! No need to get violent!" he said, putting his hands up in a disarmed manner. "I guess it all started at..."  
  
[_Flashback_]  
  
Dustin was rummaging crazily through his closet looking for something nice, meaning decent, meaning clean, meaning, not used for more than three times since it was last washed, to wear for his date in, approximately...crap!...thirty minutes!  
  
Selecting a dark yellow, short sleeved button down, with a bright yellow undershirt, some dark blue jeans, that happened to fit _just_ right, and black leather boots, throwing them on his ever-unmade bed, Dustin raced to his bathroom to clean up. After finally getting rid of the dirt that just seemed to love him and getting dressed, he half attempted to tame his wild curls with gel, only to make it both curly _and_ stuck. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone speak behind him just as he sighed, lowered his arms, and slump his shoulders and in defeat.  
  
"If you ask me," think it looks fine," he heard her say. "Great, even. I wonder who's it for..." she trailed off, eyebrows waggling suggestively, a knowing smile playing across her lips.  
  
She was beautiful, and only slightly shorter than him. She had the same dark, curly hair, but her eyes were light green, almost like ice green, if ice could be green. It reminded him of his mother.  
  
"It's not for anybody, Mare," he said, feigning exasperation, but he could tell he was showing signs of anxiety.  
  
In other words, he was dead, and she knew it.  
  
"You suck at lying, Wally," she said, letting herself into the bathroom and jumping up to rather large counter. "Now, tell big sis the nasty lil' secret before I have to resort to using your first name," she said, mock seriousness on her face. "'Cause I'll do it. And it won't be pretty."  
  
Dustin shifted. He suddenly found his shoes interesting for a while before he turned back to his sister. Sighing, a hopeful, and pained, look on his face, he spoke in a quiet tone, "Promise me that you won't tell anyone. Like, anyone at _all_."  
  
She visibly perked and made a scout's honor sign with her fingers. "On my name as Marian Ava blah blah blah Brookes, I promise never to tell anyone what you're about to tell me..." she paused as he relaxed and opened his mouth, "...as long as I find it boring enough and actually not want to tell my friends."  
  
He glared at her.  
  
"Okaaay...maybe, then?"  
  
He shot daggers.  
  
"Okay, maybe not," she huffed. "Happy now?"  
  
"Very," he said smugly...until he realized he had to tell her his secret now.  
  
Damn.  
  
Suddenly he found his shoes to be very interesting again.  
  
What was he doing again?  
  
"Hello? Dustin? I know you _like_ spacing out, but this isn't one of the times that you can," she said, mock haughtily. "I mean, you are talking to me."  
  
Oh, yeah.  
  
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Um...you can't freak out on me," he said calmly, hands in the air in a disarmed position. "I, kinda...well...I kinda got a date..." he said sheepishly.  
  
"Well, I can see that—" she began before he cut her off.  
  
"NO!" he yelled. "No...it's just that...well...it's with...Shane," he mumbled, waiting for any sign of her hearing him...you know, breaking of mirrors, glasses thrown across the room, that sort of thing.  
  
"Excuse me?" she asked strangely.  
  
"It's...it's...it's Shane," he said, finally gathering enough courage to say it while looking at her.  
  
She stared at him.  
  
"Mare? Are you there?" he asked, hand waving in front of her eyes, until she got annoyed and batted his hands away. She gave him an exasperated sigh and stared at him.  
  
"Is that it?" she asked. "_That's_ the big secret?" she huffed as she jumped off the counter and turned to him, mumbling, "waste of a promise."  
  
Dustin's mind did a recap. Huh?  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Her exasperated sigh would have been audible in, at least, the neighboring three states. "That's hardly a secret, Wally. The poor guy's only been making googly eyes at you since you were, like, a freshmen," she stated plainly, rolling her eyes. "I bet he probably didn't even know it," stated smugly. "In fact, I bet he liked from even before that, and you were just too blind to see it."  
  
Okay...what?  
  
"Okay, what?" he asked innocently, then his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait...you're not mad?"  
  
"Mad?" she asked, surprised. "Why would I...oh," she sighed. "You're my brother and I love you, but let's face it...you read like a book," she said, grabbing his cheeks and peering into his eyes. "If you wore your heart on your sleeve anymore, it'd fall off." Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked away to mumble something. "Although, I would have thought that you would have hooked up with that other guy you hang out with. Hun...Han...Hay..."  
  
Dustin blinked. "What?"  
  
She shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind," she mumbled. "Um, so...where's he taking you?" she asked, changing the subject, and dragging him out to his room.  
  
"Oh...I don't know," he said, following her, eyebrows still furrowed in confusion.  
  
She winced. "Ooooh. Bad idea. You're always supposed to tell a person where you're going, to make sure they don't embarrass themselves by over- or under-dressing."  
  
He chuckled nervously. "It's Shane. He's probably got this, like, whole thing scheduled to, like, accommodate us and stuff."  
  
"Since when did you use words like 'accommodate?' And, when exactly—" she asked as they both heard the doorbell ring.  
  
"Uh, that's me," he said nervously. "Do you think I look okay?"  
  
"Yeah, you look great," she said, smiling sadly. "Dustin?" she asked his back, and waited for him to turn around. "Just...just make sure he treats you right, okay?"  
  
Dustin shifted on his feet slightly. "Okay."  
  
Marian thought about what she wanted to say, and bit her lip in a nervous manner. "It's just that...with that other...'friend' of yours—Mar, Mac, M- something—I just want to make sure that you'll be alright."  
  
Dustin froze, his voice barely above a whisper. "You...you knew about him?"  
  
Mare could feel the sharp remark in the back of her throat, but something in those brown eyes told her not to. She nodded.  
  
Dustin looked like he had been kicked in the stomach and had to grab onto the wall behind him. But...he had been so careful. He hid anything that could leave behind evidence; the lube, the foil rappers...his skin. A voice shocked him out of his reverie.  
  
"Master Brooks," it said in an unsatisfactory tone. "Mr. Clarke is here to see you."  
  
"Thank you, Laura," he said, smiling nervously as she stepped out of his room. He looked at his sister and attempted a warm smile. She winced at its falsity, and he asked the question that he had wanted to ask since she told him she wasn't surprised.  
  
"Does anyone else...does Mom or Dad...do they..." he tried.  
  
"Know?" she finished with a sympathetic tone. "No. They don't know...about anything."  
  
Dustin sighed, even if he didn't know whether it was in relief or exhaustion. "Uh...I just...I wanted to say thanks..." he started.  
  
"You don't have to," she replied. "I love you and always will. You have my support," she said soothingly, hugging him, then suddenly brightening up. "Now, go on. You don't want to keep Loverboy waiting."  
  
Dustin flustered a little. "Uh...um...Thanks."  
  
"Don't mention it," she said as she pushed him out of his room. "Don't worry about Mom and Dad. I'll take care of any questions they ask."  
  
"Hey," he heard Shane say as he came down the stairs. "What took you so long?"  
  
"Nothing," he answered, smiling slightly. "I just had to make sure of something."  
  
"Good," Shane answered, brightly, opening the door. "You ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah, just let me grab my jacket."  
  
As they walked towards the car, Shane muttered something.  
  
"You look...great."  
  
Dustin cheeks colored slightly. "Uh...thanks. You, too." He nearly laughed as Shane rushed in front of him. "I can open my own door, you know."  
  
Shane smiled brightly. "I know. You just shouldn't have to."  
  
Dustin really blushed. Shane's smile only got, if possible, brighter. Usually, he wasn't so into the flirting, but...there was just something about how it threw Dustin off in such an amusing way, he just couldn't help it.  
  
"So...uh...where are we going?" Dustin asked, shocking Shane from his staring.  
  
Shane chuckled softly. "It's a surprise."  
  
[_Pause Flashback_]  
  
"Wait, so Mary knew about you and Shane?" Tori asked, shocked. "Wow."  
  
"I know! I was, like...like, totally thrown off," he said, remembering his shock.  
  
Tori recovered first. "So where did he take you? Did you have a good time?"  
  
Dustin groaned. "Oh...you could say that...in the end, maybe."  
  
[Hey there. I redid this chapter, because I thought it was too short. Um...the next chapter, if you can't tell, will be Dustin and Shane's date, with Tori and Dustin's opinions running amok here and there.  
  
Shout outs to Camfan4ever, CaliforniaChick, and CrimsonHurricane.  
  
Hope you liked this rewrite/post.  
  
Thanks. Bye] 


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